Once one begins to explore the topic of outdoor drama, one cannot ignore just how large a proportion of theatre history and practice falls into the subject area. The many and varied types of performance range from the necessary outdoor Greek and Roman spectacles, through the civic Passion plays, the commedia dell'arte, and Elizabethan public playhouses, all the way to the contemporary dramas performed outdoors as a choice. Non-Western dramas, too, frequently make use of outdoor public spaces as not only a venue for the performance, but an important grounding of the meaning. Whether in subject matter that celebrates the community’s religion, history, or traditions, the outdoor drama seems a subject ripe for examination in historical, theoretical, and performance-based terms. We invite papers especially that analyze the nexus of history and theory as it applies to the production of some particular facet of outdoor drama.

Our keynote speakers were Rob Fox, the current director of the Institute of Outdoor Drama located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor), along with Mark Sumner and Scott Parker, both former SETC presidents and former directors of the Institute. These three individuals provided a far-reaching scope for a lively overview of subjects that touched on and amplified the theme of the Symposium, not to mention furthering the connection between SETC and its Theatre Symposium.

Dr. Jay Malarcher
Editor, Theatre Symposium
Division of Theatre and Dance
Box 6111
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26506-6111

If you are interested in attending this year's Symposium and have a question, please contact Dr. Malarcher at jay.malarcher@mail.wvu.edu.

Individual members of SETC receive a copy of Theatre Symposium
as a benefit of membership.